Version of the painting Endymion (circa 1913; whereabouts unknown). The garish effects and spicy tones of this painting are encountered in many of Nikolai Kalmakov’s works on themes from Greek mythology. Artemis and the Sleeping Endymion combines features of Russian Neoclassicism and Art Nouveau, with its tendency for overt decorativism. Kalmakov depicts the moment when the virgin huntress Artemis is entranced by Endymion, the shepherd whom Zeus has consigned to eternal sleep because of his love for his wife Hera. The mystics of love permeate the complex composition and the masterly rhythm of the forms, lines and ornamental designs.

Kalmakov Nikolai

Kalmakov, Nikolai Konstantinovich
1873, Nervi, Italy — 1955, Chelles, near Paris
Painter, graphic artist, theatrical designer. Studied at the School of Jurisprudence in St Petersburg (until 1895). Did not receive a profes¬sional artistic education. Independently studied classical art in Italy (1895–1903). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1906). Designed for theatres in Leningrad (from 1908). Illustrated books (from 1913). Cofounder of the Yulia Slonimskaya-Sazonova Puppet Theatre in Pet¬rograd (1915). Lived in Constantinople, Tallinn, Helsinki, Brussels and Paris (from 1918).